Lucknow:
Marching ahead for the coming elections, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has gone back to the basics. In a signal to her core strength, she indicated that the BSP may need the Brahmins and the minorities, but the battle can't be won without the Dalits.
"For the next 15-20 years, a Dalit will be chosen by the BSP to be the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh," she said while addressing a Dalit rally in Lucknow on Sunday.
If at the recent Brahmin rally Mayawati had showcased SC Mishra, today it was Swamy Prasad Maurya - a leader from the weaker sections.
The key reason for the shift and promise is her tormentor - Rahul Gandhi - who has dined with Dalits, stayed at their homes and attacked her for doing nothing beyond lip service for Dalits.
At her rally for UP's most marginalised, Mayawati followed up on full page advertisements, listing what she has done to change their lives - and virtually rebutting Mr Gandhi's charges.
The battlelines are clearly drawn - on one side of the trenches is Mayawati and on the other side Rahul Gandhi. The threat from Mr Gandhi was palpable; Mayawati's rebuttal to every allegation made by the Congress general secretary was vicious.
With the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister focussing on him, Rahul Gandhi can smile. His attacks on Mayawati have propelled the Congress - with just 19 seats in UP assembly - as a visibly key rival to the BSP.
"There is an elephant sitting in Lucknow and this elephant is eating your money. This time UP has decided to throw away this elephant," Mr Gandhi had said during a rally on Friday.
"The Congress is getting nightmares about BSP's election symbol elephant driving them away," Mayawati retorted on Sunday.
The focus of Mayawati's next rally in Lucknow on December 18 will be of Muslims, Rajputs and Baniyas. The underline perhaps is that poll slogans may speak of development, but in UP, elections mean castes and their chemistry.
Clearly, the political battle for 2012 will intensify in the days ahead.